Top 40 Music on Compact Disc: A Lover’s Concerto

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jono
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Posted: 06 May 2011 at 5:07pm \| IP Logged

Does anyone have the 45 of The Toys' "A Lover's Concerto"? I'm wondering what the timing is on the song because, to my ears, it runs faster on some cd's. The database lists times as (mostly) either 2:34 or 2:38/2:39.

Thanks! Any help is appreciated.

Jon O.

edtop40
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Posted: 06 May 2011 at 5:37pm \| IP Logged

after just listing the vinyl 45 side by side to a cdr copy i have of the song i can tell you the 2:38/2:39 versions are at a much slower pitch than the vinyl 45 which does run 2:34 and NOT 2:36 as listed on the 45's face.....hope this helps....

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jono
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Posted: 07 May 2011 at 6:38am \| IP Logged

edtop40 -

Thank you very much! Just the information I was looking for. Thanks, too for confirming the speed difference - I'm glad I'm not going crazy.

Jon O.

The Hits Man
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Posted: 07 May 2011 at 10:24pm \| IP Logged

Thanks! This helps me get it right for my upcoming 1965
comp. But, if I got it right, it does seem unusually fast.

What I did was first trim the beginning and ends of the
file to the absolute start and finish, adjust the pitch
with Audition 4/iZotope'a pitch adjust to 3:34, undo the
trim at the ends, convert to 32-bit, run the pitch process,
then dither back to 16-bit.

Edited by The Hits Man on 07 May 2011 at 10:42pm

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KentT
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Posted: 08 May 2011 at 6:41am \| IP Logged

2:34 is correct 45 RPM timing, US and UK.

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EdisonLite
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Posted: 23 January 2024 at 2:47pm \| IP Logged

What is the best sounding stereo version of the single "A
Lover's Concerto" (if any exists?) I found a stereo version
on Spotify but it was a re-recording (new vocals, etc.).

TomDiehl1
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Posted: 23 January 2024 at 3:10pm \| IP Logged

There never was a true stereo version of the hit. The
follow up, Attack, was in stereo on some copies of the lp,
but it's lone database appearance is in mono.

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crapfromthepast
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Posted: 24 January 2024 at 3:57pm \| IP Logged

The song doesn't exist in stereo.

The oldest CD I have with the song is Time-Life's Classic Rock Vol. 1 1965 (1987). It runs in fake stereo here, which is unpleasant. The same analog transfer is used on:

JCI's Love Sixties (1988)
Sessions/Warner Special Products' 2-CD Everlasting Love (1989)
Good Music Record Company's 2-CD Rare Gold (1990) - left/right channels swapped, runs a bit longer than the Time-Life disc, sounds really muddy

The same source tape as the Time-Life disc seems to used on:

Silver Eagle/Warner Special Products' 2-CD Summer Love (1987) - runs about 1 beat longer
New Gold On CD - week of 1991-03-11

A much better analog transfer is on Rhino's Best Of The Girl Groups Vol. 2 (1990). Here, it runs in true mono. It runs about 2 beats longer than the The Time-Life disc, and about 1.8% slower than the Time-Life disc. The same analog transfer is used on:

Rhino's Billboard Top Rock 'N' Roll Hits 1965 (1993 RE-1 reissue; not on original pressings of this disc)
Rhino's Girl Group Greats (2001)
TM Century track nos. 0001114 and 0010060 - both dampen some of the low-end rumble

There's a new analog transfer on Varese Sarabande's Dick Bartley On The Radio Vol. 2 (1997), which is also in true mono. It runs out to the same point in the song as the Rhino discs, but runs about 0.6% slower than the Rhino discs. It's EQ'd to dampen some of the low-end rumble and dampen some of the high end (like the hi-hat), compared to the Rhino disc. The same analog transfer is used on:

Time-Life's 2-CD Glory Days Of Rock 'N' Roll Vol. 7 Girl Group Sound (1999)

Finally, there seems to be a new analog transfer on Eric's Hard To Find 45 On CD Vol. 5 Sixties Pop Classics (2000). It runs a tiny bit slower than the Varese disc, fades about three beats shorter than the Rhino and Varese discs, and includes added noise reduction (listen as the high end disappears on the fade). Avoid for this track.

My recommendation

Go with Rhino's Best Of The Girl Groups Vol. 2 (1990). Yay, mono!

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EdisonLite
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Posted: 24 January 2024 at 4:34pm \| IP Logged

Thanks. I'm surprised there hasn't been a DES version made
of this song. After all, it was a really big hit - it did
peak at #2 for 3 weeks. But maybe DES is too new. Or...
like the stereo versions made of the Byrds' "Turn! Turn!
Turn!" & "Mr. Tambourine Man" circa 1990 (without DES),
there must be some kind of multi-track of this (at least,
I'd think) which could have been used to make a true stereo
and not an e-stereo.)

Edited by EdisonLite on 24 January 2024 at 4:35pm

davidclark
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Posted: 24 January 2024 at 8:25pm \| IP Logged

EdisonLite,

There is a fan-made DES of this. Let me know if you want it!

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TomDiehl1
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Posted: 24 January 2024 at 9:02pm \| IP Logged

EdisonLite wrote:

Thanks. I'm surprised there hasn't
been a DES version made
of this song. After all, it was a really big hit - it did
peak at #2 for 3 weeks. But maybe DES is too new. Or...
like the stereo versions made of the Byrds' "Turn! Turn!
Turn!" & "Mr. Tambourine Man" circa 1990 (without DES),
there must be some kind of multi-track of this (at least,
I'd think) which could have been used to make a true
stereo
and not an e-stereo.)

The BellSound tape purge in the 70s destroyed any chances
of a multi still existing.

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Todd Ireland
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Posted: 27 January 2024 at 10:11pm \| IP Logged

crapfromthepast wrote:

My recommendation

Go with Rhino's Best Of The Girl Groups Vol. 2 (1990). Yay, mono!

I'm sure I speak for many board members here when I say how much I continue to appreciate and treasure your highly exhaustive and helpful analysis when it comes to determining the best sounding audio source for a particular song available on CD, Ron!

Now, in this particular instance, I own a 1993 pressing of the Billboard Top Rock'n'Roll Hits - 1965 CD on Rhino 70626. If I'm understanding your post correctly, you're essentially saying that this disc contains the same mastering transfer as what's on the Rhino Best Of The Girl Groups Vol. 2 CD, right?

If that's the case, then allow me to highly recommend what I believe to be an even superior-sounding CD source of The Toys' "Lover's Concerto". If you don't yet have a copy, then you really need to check out The Toys' A Lover's Concerto/Attack CD on Sundazed 6034, which is mastered by longtime legendary audio engineer Bob Irwin. Let me tell you, "Lover's Concerto" on that disc not only runs at the correct single/album speed and length of 2:34, but was also mastered from a well-preserved first generation master. As a result, the overall audio clarity completely blows away that of what appears on the Billboard Top Rock'n'Roll Hits - 1965 disc! In fact, the latter actually sounds a tad grungy and distorted by comparison. The other benefit of owning the A Lover's Concerto/Attack CD on Sundazed is that it remains the lone CD title containing The Toys' other Top 40 hit "Attack", in addition to the group's other two Billboard Hot 100 chart entries "May My Heart Be Cast into Stone" and "Baby Toys". Anyway, just thought that some of you fellow audiophiles and Billboard chart completists might appreciate these tips!

Edited by Todd Ireland on 27 January 2024 at 10:13pm

crapfromthepast
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Posted: 28 January 2024 at 12:33am \| IP Logged

Todd - I found a 12-track version on Qobuz which seems to be the full album without the two bonus tracks. I assume that it's the Sundazed mastering (released in 1994), but it doesn't say.

It does indeed sound better than the others. The difference isn't subtle, either. The high end is more crisp and the vocals do sound less grungy, especially in the last half of the song. The Sundazed version runs about 2.0% or 2.1% faster than the Rhino version, and runs about 2 or 3 beats shorter than the Rhino version.

Good call, Todd. I'm glad you pointed this one out for us.

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EdisonLite
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Posted: 29 January 2024 at 4:17am \| IP Logged

I found the 12-track version of the album on Spotify at the link below. It seems
to be from 2004/2005 Warner, but sometimes those dates at the bottom aren't
correct. It can be heard here:

https://open.spotify.com/album/0FCivegJk8AAzoR1aWdPaW?
si=aAhiDZLsRxeC6vEXsO-GeQ

Does anyone know if this is the same as what's on the Sundazed CD minus the
2 bonus cuts?

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